• Question: why have some people evolved into homosexuality

    Asked by anon-10710 to Vera, Ed on 13 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Ed Morrison

      Ed Morrison answered on 13 Jun 2011:

      This is a bit of a mystery in science. Homosexuality is quite common in loads of different animal species. This is strange because animals that don’t mate with a female will not pass on their genes to the next generation, so we might expect homosexuality to disappear. But it doesn’t.

      It could be that homosexuality is not caused by genes, but in humans genes do seem to play a role. So scientists are still trying to figure this mystery out.

    • Photo: Vera Weisbecker

      Vera Weisbecker answered on 13 Jun 2011:

      I don’t think that people have come up with a good explanation to this question, although as Ed said it is very common among animals. Genes do play a role and there is also a strong hormonal influence during pregnancy. I also once read that in families with many boys, the youngest brother may be more likely to be homosexual. The explanation offered is that this way the younger boys do not compete with the older ones for women, thus reducing fighting in the family. Makes sense perhaps but is unlikely to be the only explanation…

Comments